Genesis 26:12

26:12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, ¹  because the Lord blessed him. ² 

Genesis 30:27-30

30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, ³  for I have learned by divination ⁴  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” ⁵ 

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, ⁶  “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. ⁷  30:30 Indeed, ⁸  you had little before I arrived, ⁹  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ¹⁰  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ¹¹  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ¹² 

Genesis 39:5

39:5 From the time ¹³  Potiphar ¹⁴  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ¹⁵  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ¹⁶  in his house and in his fields. ¹⁷ 

Genesis 39:23

39:23 The warden did not concern himself ¹⁸  with anything that was in Joseph’s ¹⁹  care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

Leviticus 25:21

25:21 I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year so that it may yield ²⁰  the produce ²¹  for three years,

Leviticus 26:4-5

26:4 I will give you your rains in their time so that ²²  the land will give its yield and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. ²³  26:5 Threshing season will extend for you until the season for harvesting grapes, ²⁴  and the season for harvesting grapes will extend until sowing season, so ²⁵  you will eat your bread until you are satisfied, ²⁶  and you will live securely in your land.

Deuteronomy 28:8

28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he ²⁷  is giving you.

Proverbs 10:22

10:22 The blessing ²⁸  from the Lord ²⁹  makes a person rich, ³⁰ 

and he adds no sorrow ³¹  to ³²  it.

Proverbs 10:2

10:2 Treasures gained by wickedness ³³  do not profit,

but righteousness ³⁴  delivers from mortal danger. ³⁵ 

Colossians 1:8-11

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ³⁶  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³⁷  to fill ³⁸  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ³⁹  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁴⁰  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ⁴¹  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

[26:12]  ¹ tn Heb “a hundredfold.”

[26:12]  ² tn This final clause explains why Isaac had such a bountiful harvest.

[30:27]  ³ tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[30:27]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the Lord has blessed me” (cf. NEB). See J. Finkelstein, “An Old Babylonian Herding Contract and Genesis 31:38f.,” JAOS 88 (1968): 34, n. 19.

[30:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “set your wage for me so I may give [it].”

[30:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”

[30:30]  ⁸ tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  ¹² tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”

[39:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ¹⁵ sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).

[39:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ¹⁷ sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.

[39:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “was not looking at anything.”

[39:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and it [i.e., the land] shall make the produce.” The Hebrew term וְעָשָׂת (vÿ’asat, “and it shall make”) is probably an older third feminine singular form of the verb (GKC 210 §75.m). Smr has the normal form.

[25:21]  ²¹ tn Smr and LXX have “its produce” (cf. 25:3, 7, etc.) rather than “the produce.”

[26:4]  ²² tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[26:4]  ²³ tn Heb “the tree of the field will give its fruit.” As a collective singular this has been translated as plural.

[26:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will reach for you the vintage season.”

[26:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[26:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV, NASB “to the full.”

[28:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” Because English would not typically reintroduce the proper name following a relative pronoun (“he will bless…the Lord your God is giving”), the pronoun (“he”) has been employed here in the translation.

[10:22]  ²⁸ tn The term בְּרָכָּה (bÿrakhah, “blessing”) refers to a gift, enrichment or endowment from the Lord.

[10:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions here as a genitive of source.

[10:22]  ³⁰ tn Heb “makes rich” (so NASB); NAB “brings wealth.” The direct object “a person” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the Hiphil verb; it is supplied in the translation.

[10:22]  ³¹ tn Heb “toil.” The noun עֶצֶב (’etsev) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) “toil; labor” which produces pain and sorrow, and (2) “pain; sorrow” which is the result of toil and labor (BDB 780 s.v.). This is the word used of the curse of “toil” in man’s labor (Gen 3:17) and the “pain” in the woman’s child-bearing (Gen 3:16). God’s blessing is pure and untarnished – it does not bring physical pain or emotional sorrow.

[10:22]  ³² tn Heb “with.”

[10:2]  ³³ tn Heb “treasures of wickedness” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “Ill-gotten gains”; TEV “Wealth that you get by dishonesty.”

[10:2]  ³⁴ sn The term “righteousness” here means honesty (cf. TEV). Wealth has limited value even if gained honestly; but honesty delivers from mortal danger.

[10:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “death.” This could refer to literal death, but it is probably figurative here for mortal danger or ruin.

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ³⁷ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ³⁸ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ³⁹ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ⁴⁰ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:11]  ⁴¹ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.